TV Review: The Ex List- New Series May Prove as Popular as Sex and the City

CBS sent me the pilot to their new romantic comedy, The Ex List, set to debut on October 3rd. Based on a hit Israeli TV series, Mythological X, it was developed by Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars) and stars the charming Elizabeth Reaser (Grey's Anatomy).

The premise is intriguing. Reaser plays Bella, a cute, but self-absorbed, flower shop owner. Out for her sister Daphne's (Rachel Boston) bachelorette party, they visit a psychic. The psychic is shockingly accurate regarding Bella's recent breakup with Elliot (Mark Deklin), telling her she must get married within the year or she will never marry anyone the rest of her life. If that isn't enough pressure, the man she is supposed to marry is someone she has dated before, leading to the creation of the titular ex list.

This sets up a premise that follows one of the more interesting aspects of another female fan favorite, Sex and the City. Where Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle have failed is in trying to duplicate the Sex and the City formula too closely, four women with some dissimilarities brought together by their travails in the dating world. Don't forget that the chemistry between the four was developed over time as the actresses brought their individuality to each role. But the original premise was a lot simpler. It was about the women's dating experiences with men, and the quirks one encounters in these transactions. Rather than forcing casting chemistry down our throats, The Ex List pursues this lesser premise to greater comedic effect.

Bella reunites with an old beau (Eric Balfour), a singer she broke up with because he was too emotional. He now leads a grittier punk rock band when she sees him in concert, where he opens his set with a song called "Bitch!" that we quickly realize is about her. As she tries her best to convince him that she should get another chance, his tough facade slowly erodes, revealing the same sensitive soul inside. But is she able to deal with a softie all over again?

The glamour and gender-centrism of Sex and the City are dropped, and The Ex List instead focuses on the dating nightmares as Bella and her slacker support group swap dating advice. Her closest friends in that group include (straight) males as well as females, and she bonds with them while surfing one afternoon, a decidedly more down-to-earth backdrop than the standard NYC club of the week. This gives The Ex List a fresh take on a generic rom-com premise while still hearkening back to its popular HBO antecedent.

Reaser recalls Sarah Jessica Parker, in a petite yet tough kind of way. And the west coast locale suitably spins the premise away from the cliche territory of the current crop of like-minded comedies. Also, nice to see that her family will have some say in her dating life, with sister and Dad (NYPD Blue's Gordon Clapp... nice to see you back) in the mix, a notable dimension that was unrealistically missing from Sex and the City, where we never met Carrie's family.

I do wonder how they'll handle that one year marriage deadline if the show goes beyond the first season. And I worry that, at this point, her most recent ex, Elliot, predictably seems to be the one destined to marry her. But I'm interested in seeing who Bella's next ex/prospective husband will be.

Keep in mind that pilots frequently change before airtime. But if viewers get to sample the show as I did, I think they'll keep coming back.

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TV Review: At the Death House Door - IFC's Gripping Documentary Tackles the Death Penalty

At the Death House Door is a solemn inquiry into the execution of Carlos De Luna, seen through the eyes of Pastor Carroll Pickett. De Luna was a Mexican American convicted of murdering gas station attendant Wanda Lopez in 1983 in Corpus Christi, Texas. As has been happening lately in many capital punishment cases, doubt has been cast over whether De Luna was actually guilty of the murder.

Pastor Carroll Pickett counseled the inmates of the "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville, overseeing nearly 100 executions, including the world's first lethal injection. Having lost two upstanding members of his congregation, during a hostage crisis at the prison, he was a strong advocate for the death penalty when he joined the unit. But years of counseling the inmates, getting to know them as human beings, and discovering that victims' families seldom got any sense of closure from the executions, took their toll on Pickett. Alienated and lonely, he confessed his private thoughts into audio cassettes after each execution. By the time he met convict Carlos De Luna, he had begun to oppose the death penalty.

Of all the inmates that claimed their innocence to Pickett, none had struck him as more genuine than De Luna. De Luna's arrest was made with very little evidence, and another convict, Carlos Hernandez, who was a virtual lookalike, even bragged about how De Luna was convicted for someone Hernandez had actually killed. Even a knife resembling Hernandez's distinctive one had been found at the scene. Frustrated at the futility and injustice of the executions, Pickett quit and became a dedicated anti-death penalty activist in Texas, an uphill battle if there ever was one. Texas leads the country in executions, ahead of second-place Virginia by more than 4 to 1 since 1976.

Through the investigation by Steve Mills and Maury Possley, two Chicago Tribune reporters, into De Luna's arrest and its inconsistencies, the filmmakers were led to De Luna's final confidant, Pastor Pickett. Directors Steve James and Peter Gilbert (directors of Hoop Dreams) give us a grim but fascinating look into the tortured soul of Pastor Pickett. Pickett's father, bitter over his own father's murder, was influential in forming the pastor's opinion of the death penalty in his youth. Raised to keep his emotions in constant check, he would record his misgivings after each execution, amassing a collection of 95 tapes over the years. But his daughter recalls the one time anyone in his family saw him weep, screeching as he collapsed to the floor, while his then young daughter helplessly looked on.

Gripping and intense, the documentary gives a fair-minded look at capital punishment, and one man's mission to find a better alternative.

IFC presents At the Death House Door tonight at 9 PM ET.

This entry first appeared on Blogcritics on 5/29/2008.

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TV Review: Recount - Satire Takes Aim at Florida's 2000 Voter Recount Fiasco

The new HBO movie, Recount, is a sadly funny primer on all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that occurred during the infamous 2000 Florida voter recount. Seen primarily through the eyes of Ron Klain (Kevin Spacey), General Counsel to Al Gore's recount committee, it is more affectionate to the Democrats. But in retrospect, it is hard not to be, eight years later, as George W. Bush has the dubious distinction of having the lowest domestic approval ratings of any sitting American President in history. And that's including Nixon.

Jay Roach, of Austin Powers and Meet the Parents fame, directs the ensemble cast to what are some highly accurate caricatures of some of the major players in the unfolding comedy of errors taking place. I say caricatures because tongue is firmly planted in cheek as he surveys some of the notable incidents throughout the aftermath of the election. John Hurt (The Elephant Man)portrays former Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, as a dignified individual whose sense of decorum unfortunately delays Gore's recount team from fighting dirty earlier in the game. Ed Begley, Jr. (St. Elsewhere) plays David Boies, counsel to Gore in the Supreme Court case, Bush v. Gore, as a cavalry general coming to the rescue. If he is unable to stop Bush's recount committee from getting their way, it is simply because their leadership was simply more motivated to win. Their leader, James Baker, former Secretary of State and part of the Bush Family inner circle, is given ferocious life by virtual lookalike Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton). Wilkinson's Baker shows up to his first meeting with Gore's recount committee ready for a street fight, to the chagrin of Hurt's more gentlemanly Christopher. This sets the tone for the long battle that follows.

Of particular note is the performance of Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Katherine Harris, then-Secretary of State of Florida. Her delineation of Harris fits in with the image we remember, a preening and opportunistic evangelical Christian eager for her chance in the spotlight. With no concern over charges of conflict-of-interest, she was only to happy to take center stage in certifying Bush's victory, despite her post as Bush's Florida campaign co-chair. Dern's excessive makeup, gaudy attire, and padded form (Dern's slender body is far different than the shapely Harris') remind us of how ubiquitous Harris' face was on TV, at the time.

With loads of incidents to poke fun at (or cry over depending which side of the political aisle you're on), from Gore's retraction of his concession to Bush (which may have been the impetus for the Bush committee's tenacious fight), to the U.S. Supreme Court's unprecedented admonition that their decision on Bush v. Gore was unique to this specific case, Recount makes for entertaining, but biased, viewing.
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TV Review: The Office - Melora Hardin's Wacky Jan Boosts Show's Return

(Warning: For those who still have last night's episode of The Office sitting on their Tivo, there are spoilers below)

The Office returned from it's strike-related hiatus last night for a six episode run. It was a great showcase for Melora Hardin's kooky portrayal of Jan Levinson. Since her first appearance as the then-Jan Levinson-Gould, supervisor to Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his crew, her increasingly unhinged performance has grown from a small recurring role to an unofficial regular, as Michael's live-in girlfriend. Last night's episode revolving around a dinner party at Michael and Jan's apartment reached a new high in discomfort.

First, Michael stages a critical late assignment for Friday evening, only to cancel it so everyman Jim (John Krasinski) won't have an excuse to blow off another of Michael's invitations to dinner. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) wants to go, but alas the party is couple's only. This does clear the way for Dwight's rival, Andy (Ed Helms), to attend with Dwight's ex, Angela (Angela Kinsey), however. When Jim arrives with girlfriend Pam (Jenna Fischer), they bring a bottle of wine as any good guest does. Jan sets the tone for the rest of the night when she spirits the bottle away saying, "This will be great for cooking."

The episode truly captures the essence of the positives and negatives of being in a relationship. Jan needs to keep Michael's self-esteem low to enhance her own, now that she's unemployed. As we find out, she relegates Michael to sleeping on a bench at the foot of their bed because of her "space issues." She does cling to Michael like she would a life-vest: the truth behind the dinner party is her hope that Michael can convince his friends to invest in her fledgling candle-making business. Jim and Pam have a healthier relationship, supporting each other through the awkward party peppered with Michael and Jan's bickering. Best reaction shot: Jim's and Pam's faces as they find out the main course of Osso Bucco has three hours left to braise. Jim and Pam are excited when he comes up with a great excuse to leave the party. He claims his apartment has been flooded, and Pam and he have to leave. When Michael points out that both of them are not necessary to check out his stuff, Jim seems ready to go without her. It's only Pam's look of dismay (and possible flak for Jim later) that stops him in his tracks. Has any couple out there not experienced these situations firsthand? Well, maybe not the bench...

Jan's jealousy of Pam escalates the awkwardness. When she makes Pam aware that Michael has told her of how he used to date Pam, an outright lie, Pam is taken aback. The Osso Bucco is finally served. As Michael frets that it may be poisoned, cut to Pam talking to the camera, "I know Jan didn't poison the food. I know that. But if she was going to poison the food of someone at that table, wouldn't it be me? Michael's former lover." Michael has always had the corner on making the viewer cringe. But in this episode, it is frequently Melora Hardin's Jan that drives the discomfort. And every time the discomfort escalates, it is she that passive-aggressively initiated the escalation.

This is definitely a noteworthy return, and one of the series' best episodes if you can stand the escalating awkwardness.

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TV Review: Battlestar Galactica - Final Season Premieres Tonight

New episodes of beloved shows are starting to trickle in now that the writer's strike is over. One with a rabid cult and critical following premieres its final season tonight. Ten years from now when Battlestar Galactica is being revisited by masses, don't say we didn't told you so. Critics from publications as diverse as Entertainment Weekly to The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker to Time, have all singled out this series as one of the best in TV history. Not just one of the best science fiction series, mind you, but one of the best dramatic series of all time. And why shouldn't they? This is not a retread of the cheesy 70s series that starred Lorne Greene and Dirk Benedict. This is an engaging allegory to our current "war on terror" that will be reexamined in the future the same way classics like M*A*S*H still are today.

Start with the man who first developed this incarnation, Ronald D. Moore. He took the original's premise - a small group of human survivors trying to escape the genocide being committed on them by their former robotic servants, the Cylons - beyond the previous show's limited narrative concept. While the first incarnation used that premise as an excuse for Star Wars-like adventures in space, Moore (who originally wrote for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, another wartime sci-fi gem), used the horrific annihilation of the humans to explore the nature of war, fear, and responsibility towards the atrocities faced in humanity's fight for survival. After Deep Space Nine's series finale he transferred to Star Trek: Voyager. Frustrated with his time writing for Voyager because of what he deemed at failure to capitalize on that show's similar premise - a ship of humans stranded in a faraway galaxy - he left to begin writing for other shows like Roswell, and Carnivale. But he never forgot the lessons he learned writing for those shows, and used them to enhance the new show he was to shepherd. Healthy doses of religion, politics, and sexuality helped the show transcend its silly origins. Torture, child abuse, suicide bombings, rape... issues seldom explored in the sci-fi arena made their way onto Galactica, and propelled it to critical acclaim even though mainstream popularity eluded it.

Now in tonight's episode, the premiere for its final season, will all of our questions start getting answered? Let's work our way backwards through some of last season's mysterious revelations.

Starbuck lives?! - Hotshot fighter pilot, Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), had died earlier last season. However in the season finale's climax, she flew out to meet her former commander and lover, Apollo (Jamie Bamber), to reveal her discovery of Earth, the long-sought homeworld of humanity's thirteenth tribe. But where'd she get the new, unmarked fighter she was flying? And is she really a Cylon in disguise?

The Final Five Cylons - We've known for some time now that there are 12 models of Cylons that resemble humans. Throughout the series, we've gotten to know seven of them. But in last season's finale, we discovered that four of the final five (whose appearance is a mystery even to the rest of the Cylons) are characters among the survivors we've grown to love. Three of these - Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan), Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), and Sam Anders (Michael Trucco) - were Cylon resistance leaders under the Cylon occupation. And the fourth - Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma) - is a member of the Colonial President's (Mary McDonnell) staff. Who is the final Cylon?

Gaius Baltar - Baltar (James Callis) helped the Cylons obliterate humanity's first twelve colonies. After surprisingly being acquitted of his crime, he has gathered a cult following. Will he be humanity's unlikely messiah?

Lee "Apollo" Adama - After struggling to meet his father's expectations in the military, has he found his calling, following in his grandfather's footsteps as an attorney?

President Laura Roslin - Prophecy says that she will lead her people to a new home called Earth. Will the return of her cancer cause her to fail to meet her destiny?

Admiral William Adama - Adama (Edward James Olmos) has never failed his people. But as one of the Cylons foretold to Starbuck back in the first season, "Adama is a Cylon." Was it just a dirty trick? Is the Admiral the final Cylon? Or could it have been he was referring to Lee or even his new wife, Dualla?

Hopefully this season will finally answer all of these questions. Any speculation from you readers? Please comment below.

The season premiere, "He That Believeth In Me", will be broadcast at 10 p.m. tonight on the Sci-Fi Channel.
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TV Review: In Treatment - A Cure for the Writer's Strike Blues

Due to the ongoing writer's strike, the return of dramatic TV is looking increasingly bleak. HBO comes to the rescue with In Treatment. They couldn't have presented the drama at a better time, or in a more accessible format.

Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) is a psychologist who sees four different sets of patients throughout the week. On the shows broadcast on Mondays, he sees Laura (Melissa George), a woman in a serious relationship that admits having deeper feelings for Paul. On Tuesdays, it is Alex (Blair Underwood), a pilot who has just been vilified on extremist websites for inadvertently killing 16 schoolchildren in a bombing he took part in flying over Iraq. On Wednesdays, he counsels gymnast Sophie (Mia Wasikowska), a teen Olympic hopeful, who may be feeling the pressure as evidenced in her suicidal tendencies. On Thursdays, Jake (Josh Charles) and Amy (Embeth Davidtz) go to Paul for couples counseling regarding an issue that 's fueled their bickering for the better part of a month. And on Fridays, Paul submits to his own psychologist, Gina (Dianne Wiest).

Here's what makes the show so innovative for American TV (this is based on an Israeli TV show). If you want to track only Alex's treatment, then you just need to watch the show every Tuesday night. Or if you're more interested in Jake and Amy then Thursday is your night. But if you are comfortable with serialized TV, catch it every weeknight at 9:30pm. You'll get a good dose of drama from each patient's visit and further insight into Paul's psyche, especially if you follow his sessions with Gina on Fridays.

HBO seems like they are on to this also. Their next episode plug at the end of each show doesn't plug tomorrow night's episode. It plugs the following week's episode for the patient of that night's show. So far, the best of these nights to catch seems to be Tuesday, Thursdays, and Fridays.

Underwood's confrontational performance complements Byrne's cerebral detachment as they depict the contrast between Alex's macho military persona with Paul's clinical and analytical one. Davidtz and Charles are excellent as that couple that has mastered how to push each other's buttons to the point that they fail to connect in any other way. And they drag any bystanders into the fray, as evidenced in tonight's episode where they badger Paul into choosing sides in their argument, an act that may have serious consequences for both patients and doctor.

It is tomorrow's episode that demonstrates which storyline has the most promise. Wiest's Gina seems to know how to bring Paul out of his detachment. We finally see Paul is not so emotionally remote as we thought. Byrne and Wiest spar the way you would expect two veteran actors to, with relish and abandon in displaying each character's vulnerabilities.

A promising show that comes along at the right time, it is strongly recommended watching the entire week's episodes. Luckily, people may be in the mood to do just that at the moment.

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The Sopranos: The End of the Affair?

So this is what it's been building up to? Two of Tony's most loyal knights eliminated from the chess board in what is almost an afterthought of a plot. Tony and Melfi have a falling out. And AJ? Snap out of it!

Dangling plotlines still unresolved... I thought the Russians Were Coming... the Russians were Coming... from Steve Buscemi's fantastic "Pine Barrens" to Furio's self-imposed exile after his almost affair with Carm. Never has a show so great managed to derail itself on so many occasions after building momentum each season to its climax.

But, oh, what a glorious train wreck.

Is it too much too hope that David Chase redeem himself next week in that short one hour finale?

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